Every Little Step, James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo’s uber crowd-pleasing expose of the casting process for the recent Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, is both candy for confirmed theater nerds, and functioning propaganda for the uninitiated. Following the effect of infinite repetition created by the show’s on-stage mirror, Stern and Del Deo allow the structure of their film to take after the self-reflexive structure of the play. It’s a film about struggling dancers auditioning for a play about struggling dancers auditioning for a play which was initially based on the real experiences of the struggling dancers who played themselves, and the filmmakers play off this hall of mirrors beautifully.
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Adam Del Deo and James Stern didn’t start out thinking they’d get into the documentary business, but Every Little Step marks their fourth documentary together as co-directors. It’s an emotional film that follows several hopeful dancer/singer/actors who hope to get cast in the 2006 revival of “A Chorus Line” on Broadway. I honestly didn’t think this would be too interesting of a film for me, having never seen the musical or the Michael Douglas movie version, but it was extremely compelling without taking a turn for a reality television style, which I’d feared would happen.
Stern, who also serves as the CEO for Endgame Entertainment, had earlier produced Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods which was a reality show about casting the “Legally Blonde” musical, and I still can’t believe that even exists. He’s worked on Broadway for many years, which helped him secure the legendary reel to reel recordings that consisted of show creator Michael Bennett in conversation with dancers. These tapes not only helped Bennett to create A Chorus Line, but they also serve as the backbone to the film.
Read on after the break to find out what it was like making this film, how they got the tapes, and what they think about the current state of documentary filmmaking in America.
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Mike Jones has two sets of additions to the Toronto International Film Festival lineup at The Circuit. The first, detailing nine Gala and Special Presentations, informs us of the existence of a documentary about A Chorus Line, as well as the news (I *think* it’s news–I haven’t been following TIFF updates closely enough to remember what’s just been rumor and what’s been officially confirmed) that the festival will world premiere the Larry Charles/Bill Maher doc Religulous, and host the North American premieres of Guy Ritchie’s RockNRolla and Waltz with Bashir. Meanwhile, the other release tells us to look forward to the continental premieres of Delta (the incest-tinged Adam and Eve story from Cannes) and Tokyo Sonata, as well as a number of world premieres from Scandinavia, and much more. Click forth for the details.
